


Vacation or War

by LoorTheDarkElf



Series: The Vacation or War Trilogy [1]
Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dark Eco, Dark Warrior Program, F/M, Mad Science, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2013-02-12
Packaged: 2017-11-05 14:11:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/407312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoorTheDarkElf/pseuds/LoorTheDarkElf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How does it feel... when the whole world depends on you keeping your big mouth shut? </p><p>Meet Lauren Randolph; a child genius on the verge of revolutionizing energy... only the Precursors didn't want some discoveries to be made quite so early! When a new invention of hers ends up producing raw Dark Eco energy she finds herself and her sister flung from home and into a place she's never known, and yet, is unsettlingly familiar to her. Can Lauren find her way back home, or has fate already twisted so far as to be beyond repair?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Our Lives

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, and welcome to VoW. This is the first book of a trilogy, and I hope you enjoy. I particularly thank everyone who doesn't usually read OC fanfiction and has decided to give me a chance anyway. I hope I don't disappoint! I've spent a loooooong time on this story, and I'm really working hard to produce an OCxCanon romance story even the haters can enjoy just because it's written well. A lofty goal, some may say, but I really hope my work can do something to break the idea that OC, particularly paired off with a Canon character, instantly equals a bad fic. Comments are loved, and constructive critique will be taken with a smile and a thank you. 
> 
> I'm still getting used to how formatting works over here; I'm used to Fanfiction.net where we can upload straight from the document. I apologize for any silly mistakes, and ask that you let me know so I can go back and fix them. 
> 
> Again, thank you just for reading this and giving it a chance,  
> -Loor

**  
Vacation Or War  
** **Chapter One- Our Lives**

 

 

“ _Um... Lauren, you there?”  
_ _  
_Lauren Randolph suddenly snapped out of her own head, having been typing away at her computer and forgetting the fact that she'd been on the phone. “Oh, hello! Sorry, getting lost in my brain.” She snickered, smirking and pushing her keyboard off of her lap and back onto the desk, stretching and falling back on her bed. Her computer desk and bed were at the same height, pushed together so if she dozed off at the computer she didn't have to crawl far in order to get to her pillows.

  
“ _That's okay, it's a big place to get lost in. You working on that thingy?”  
_ _  
_“It's not a 'thingy,' it's an energy conversion device.” She sighed, shaking her head at the friend she had on the phone; Chelsea. The two had only been friends for a couple years, but they were as close as could be, to the point of calling each other sisters. Both were reclusive, labeled as nerds. The two belonged to a trio that Lauren unofficially led; which meant she made plans and everyone else generally agreed with them. Their third member, Alex, was royally bi-polar. Lauren had been avoiding the girl for a while, since she'd been on one of her low swings.  
  
Loor's few friends understood that she herself had very few emotional capabilities, looking at everything from an incredibly logical standpoint. When a friend became unstable, Loor simply backed away until things had returned to normal. It was all she knew how to do.  
  
“ _You gonna bring it over tomorrow?”_ Chelsea asked, clearly sounding excited. _“You've been talking about it for so long, I can't wait to see it in action!”  
_ _  
_“It all depends if everything checks out...” Lauren put one arm under her head as her stretch went from arching her back to fanning her toes while staring at the ceiling. “I was just setting the computer up to do the final go-through and test... though I'm yet to have a successful one...”  
  
“ _Could you... explain it to me again? You always use such big words I can never remember exactly what it does.”  
_ _  
_Lauren felt the urge to roll her eyes. Yes, she and Chelsea were both hopeless shut-ins, but it would seem Lauren could not escape her own vocabulary. The only person who could keep up with her when she got technical was her ex. boyfriend; Damian. Still, she took a deep breath and tried to think of a simpler way to explain what she'd been doing. “The concept is simple. You know about the three different forms matter comes in, right?”  
  
“ _Oh, yeah, solid, liquid, and gas. It's all gotta do with how fast they're moving on the inside.”  
_ _  
_“Yes, on a molecular level. Solids are fixed, liquids bounce a little, and gas bounces a _lot._ Now, what state of matter is electricity?”  
  
“ _It... isn't. It's energy.”  
_ _  
_“Everything that can be measured is matter. I'll give you an easier example. Think of neon; those signs they make with it? Neon glows when allowed to become insanely hot, going beyond the gaseous form and becoming a fourth matter type; plasma.”  
  
“ _They don't talk about that in science class.”  
_ _  
_“Of course they don't.” Loor grunted as she rolled off of her bed, smirking to herself while pacing her clothes strewn floor. “Most plasmas aren't found on Earth without someone making an effort to create them. Plasma is a matter type that is insanely hot, usually to the point of glowing, and somehow manages to stay together despite how crazy the molecules are going. They're only found naturally in stars, like our sun.”  
  
“ _Wow... so what does this have to do with electricity?”  
_ _  
_“Electrical power is simply loose electrons that are capable of zipping about on conductors. They're not tied down to an element, but they do tend to group together. Electrons bounce around insanely, which accounts for electrical power's instability. But that's when I realized; what if you could slow them down? Not with insulators- that was useless. But if you could get those groups of electrons to slow down, _without_ attaching to an element, you could consolidate electrical power into a liquid or even solid form.” Lauren paused, feeling rather pleased with her theory. It was all she'd thought about for the last year. “ _That_ is what it does. It would take me hours to explain how it works, but the whole idea is to produce a liquid energy that isn't so unstable.”  
  
There was dumbfounded silence over the phone for a few moments. Clearly, Chelsea found the concept mind-boggling. _“That... that's incredible. But you haven't had a successful test?”  
_ _  
_“No.” Loor's voice was irritated. “The logic is sound, and according to my math it should work... but something seems to be missing. Every test, I end up getting too much heat from electrical input and no output. I've melted so many test models that Damian is starting to refuse to order me parts through his connection. He's pretty sure it's not going to work.”  
  
“ _Ah, screw him. Well I really don't care how your test goes, I want you to bring it over anyway. Either way, I want you to try it over here at my house.”  
_ _  
_“Fury!” Lauren yelped, using her friend's nickname. “Do you forget what I designed this to test with?”  
  
Ah, where Lauren's passions and obsessions collided. Loor loved playing with energy, but she also loved gaming. She was a _huge_ Jak and Daxter fan, and an avid fan-artist. Her walls were literally plastered with art of the dynamic duo, though mainly Jak because she was yet to get drawing ottsels down. Her favorite system? The PS2.  
  
Her device was made to test with the PS2, installed at the plug-in for the power cord. The new liquid, in theory, would help reduce heat and increase energy efficiency. Perhaps it would be more practical to test it on something that required a tad more electrical muscle, but Lauren didn't really care. This was her test of choice; she'd worry about the true proving grounds later on. She would have done the test on her own system, but she dare not take any of her projects out of her room to where they might be seen by her family.  
  
She loved her family, very much, but they thought she was far too distracted from things that really mattered. If they knew what she was doing for the hours spent in her room, they would shut her down so fast it would make her head spin.  
  
“ _No, I didn't forget. But it's not safe to do it at your place, right? C'mon, Loor...”  
_ _  
_Loor, her nickname. The name came out of a book, the Pendragon series, from a girl warrior named Loor who solved all of her problems with violence. Given by her ex., it stuck.  
  
It was about right for Lauren if she ever hung around people. The rest of the human race had left her alone until she'd entered middle school, Chelsea being one of the first people to ever cross the gap. Her isolation left her unable to understand emotion, and led her to violent reactions when she experienced even the simplest things that were beyond her control or comprehension. She was getting better at it; Chelsea had taught Loor how to take a joke without reacting like either the Hulk or, in the case of her non-reactions, Mr. Spock.  
  
It was only this that kept Lauren from insisting the device wasn't ready. If Chelsea wanted to see it that badly, she could yield, but only with a proper warning attached.  
  
“Alright, but you know what will happen if it's still failing, right? The electrical power loading up in the conversion device will create a massive amount of heat; it'll probably melt your playstation if it doesn't work.”  
  
“ _Well... you said that all the math should be right. And I trust you with numbers, no doubt on that... But you test it in that little box, don't you?”  
_ _  
_“Of _course_ I test it in the box. My room is not even _close_ to clean-room specs— the sealed box prevents contamination of the test, guaranteeing the conditions in which the test is run. I even added humidity control, so no residual summer-time moisture to muss up my tests.”  
  
“ _So your math accounts for a dry box?”  
_ _  
_“It's environment shouldn't effect what it's doing.” Loor waved a dismissive hand, despite the fact that she was on the phone. “But while it's still in this... I guess the word is 'basic' form, I need to get it to work in a controlled environment before I have a prayer of it working in an open environment. We'll try it, sure, but I'm not paying for your new playstation if it melts.”  
  
“ _It's okay. Mom was thinking about buying me a new one anyway. Mine gets glitchy sometimes... If it dies this way, at least it was for a good cause.”  
_ _  
_“Beautiful.”  
  
“ _So...”_ Chelsea's voice became tentative. _“Are you going to bring the game over too?”  
_ _  
_Loor grinned. “Of course. I promised, didn't I?”  
  
Lauren got off the phone about an hour later; her actual sister, Ann, would be coming home from work soon and it was well past the time she was supposed to be awake, even though it was summer vacation. With her lights off and the computer's monitor powered down for the moment, the room was tinted green by her digital stereo clock. The time displayed was 11:45, but Loor was far from sleeping.  
  
No, she was laying on her floor, stretching. All the way through the summer, Loor would be awake until one in the morning, no matter what. At midnight she would go outside via her window and do various activities that both relaxed her mind and strengthened her body. Her violent streak had gotten her in trouble before, and she only managed to stay intimidating by staying stronger than those she might've lashed out at. She had no formal training, but her instincts had done her well enough so far in life.  
  
She was getting ready to go outside by stretching out her body. Most of these exercises had become habit when one of the muscles in her back decided it hated her a few months ago; she had to keep it relaxed or pay the price in massive amounts of discomfort and pain. In the recent weeks she'd taken her stretches further, starting to practice some contortion moves and learning proper form for handsprings.  
  
Granted, she probably wouldn't even need to stretch if she didn't spend all of her daylight hours in front of her computer, obsessing over games and lines of code.  
  
At the moment she was rolled up onto her shoulders, arms clasped behind her back and using her abs to hold her legs up in the air. She was counting to herself, lowering her knees to her face and then straightening back up, watching the clock at the same time. How many she did mattered, but she wanted to know how long she could do it for as well. Her strength and endurance were very important to her; she may have been a nerd, but she refused to let that be the end-all and be-all of who she was.  
  
Her stomach began to hurt as the clock read 11:57. She forced herself to do a few more reps before dropping down to her back, sitting up and twisting her spine to crack it. Several pops sounded, making her groan softly. Her eyes went to her floor, looking for her pajama pants while twisting the other way. She slipped them on once she located them, getting up and bending over to touch her toes before walking over to her window.  
  
Lauren's house was a split-level home, her room half underground. This made crawling outside from her room quite easy; all in the name of avoiding her sister. Ann got home at any time between 11 and 1, depending on how long clean-up at her place of work, MacDonalds, took. It meant a serious lecture from both Ann and Mom if Lauren ever got caught, which was what made her get so creative with how she got outside.  
  
She swept the blanket she hung in place of curtains out of the way, pulling the screen out of the window and cranking it open. A warm summer breeze blew in, carrying the smell of pine and grass into her room. Loor reached back into her room for but a moment to retrieve something before hopping outside, pulling the blanket back over the window to keep the draft from rattling her door.  
  
The item she'd retrieved was a practice stave- a five foot length of birch wood that had been charred and cooled to toughen it. Loor had made the item by hand for the purpose of sparring with Damian, though most of their matches eventually boiled down to throwing the weapons away and wrestling. Damian was quite clumsy with any practice weapon, and would get fed up and leap at her after taking so many knocks to the body. Up close and personal wasn't much better for him- Loor was used to tussling about with her two elder siblings.  
  
But the stave was important to her for more than that. She began to twist it around as she walked away from her window for the east side of her family's property. She lived out in the boonies, where only the acres directly around the house had been mowed and the rest had been left to mother nature to groom. A few yards away the grass grew long, and trees rose up out of the ground. Loor walked further than that, till she hit a patch of ground where the grass had stopped growing.  
  
That was because she was always stepping on it. She felt the sandy dirt between her toes, and smiled, closing her eyes and breathing in the night air.  
  
Here, Loor came to feel like she wasn't alone. The feeling crept about her mind, but she kept her eyes closed. This presence was only in her mind, she knew, because she invented it. Not quite an imaginary friend, not really a split personality, simply something to fight.  
  
She always needed something to fight.  
  
She twisted her weapon forward, crouching down as if she'd suddenly been set upon by a beastly foe. She knew that this was all tricks of her mind, but it let her practice without a partner. She struck out at creatures that didn't exist, dodged away from blows that would never hit, and blocked shots that weren't real. Here was the dojo in her mind, letting her pretend she was somewhere else.  
  
Anywhere else.  
  
Somewhere where fighting mattered. Her mind loved logic and math, tinkering with energy and studying the human beings around her that she couldn't understand, but her _body_ loved this. So sorely she wanted a place where she could fight the monsters, where there would be reason behind her madness...  
  
But that was a fool's dream. And like a fool, she pretended her surroundings were something like Haven forest, that her attackers were something like metal heads, and that she was something of a hero.  
  
The only proof to sanity is that she knew she was a fool.  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
“Is it ready?” Chelsea asked impatiently. She couldn't help being impatient with Lauren; the girl got so slow and careful when it came to her creations.  
  
The two of them sat in Chelsea's room, Lauren's mom having dropped her off not even an hour ago. Lauren looked like she had been up later than usual; her blue eyes seeming dull when she got in, her blond hair left messy and unkempt. She hadn't even bothered with real clothes; still dressed in soft night pants and a tank top that didn't hide the fact that she was an early bloomer.

  
Of course, Loor's sleepy condition resulted in a not so kindly mood.

  
“Hold your damn horses. It'll be done when I'm done with it.”  
  
“But I wanna play!” She got up off of her bed, coming over to where Lauren was sitting; next to the table that her TV sat on. “If there's anything you've talked about more than this thingy, it's the game you brought over!”  
  
“It's _not_ a thingy!” Loor snapped, turning to glare. “If you gotta call it anything, the technical term is the VC-M1, alright? _Now,_ I'm almost finished, so if you wait a few more minuets here, life will be good.” She then turned back to her work, growling. “If you need something to do, go get the game from my bag. It's sitting right on top.”  
  
“Oh... okay...” Fury turned sheepish when faced with Lauren's temper. “Sorry...” She muttered while carefully walking over to Lauren's bag, dumped in the corner of the room.  
  
“Ugh... don't apologize. I was just up late is all... the usual; kicking my own ass.”  
  
“I know... I'm used to it.” She said while unzipping Loor's green backpack, finding the promised item where Loor said it was going to be.  
  
Jak II: Renegade. Lauren had been telling her about this game for weeks, about the story, the missions, and how just straight fun it was. The two had played the first game together, even gathered up all the power cells to get the extra ending, but it gave no closure, just peaking curiosity of what in the world had our heroes found beyond the giant precursor doors on top of Gol and Maia's citadel. Lauren wouldn't tell, of course, having only been talking about how awesome the story was, not the events.  
  
“Don't be.” Lauren stood up, setting the playstation upright before stretching her arms up over her head. “I don't want you to back down when I get mad... I'll never change that way. Someone has gotta beat me back if I'm ever going to learn to deal with people...” She hesitated, “ _nicely.”  
_ _  
_“So what? You want me to whack you over the head with a newspaper and say 'bad Loor!' like you're a dog or something?”  
  
The two girls looked at each other before cracking up. “Something like that... anyway, we're ready to go here.”  
  
Fury let out a brief sound of joy, crawling back over as Loor put the power cord back into its port on the back of the playstation, flicking on the power. Fury produced the disk before diving to turn on the TV, retrieving the controller for Loor.  
  
The two may have played games together, but Loor was almost always at the handlebars. She was just better with these types of games, where Fury rocked JRPGs and shooters.  
  
Of course, now was the moment of truth. If Loor's device was working, the VC-M1 as she dubbed it, everything would proceed as usual.  
  
If not, the indicator lights on the front of the system wouldn't even come on.  
  
Both let out a short sigh of victory as the red light that showed standby mode blinked on. Loor pushed the button to open the disk tray, popping the disk in and closing it.  
  
After a few moments of the browser screen on the TV, the game started. Loor picked a slot of their new game, grinning now. She wasn't one for squealing in victory, but she was certainly most pleased.  
  
Fury leaned over to hug her quickly, which made Lauren laugh. “I'd offer champagne if I had any, but congrats!” She said while letting go. “It looks like it's working just fine.”  
  
“Yeah... well, so much for Damian thinkin' it wouldn't.” Loor then selected the slot, hushing her friend as the opening scene began.  
  
“ _For every age, there is a time of trial.”_ Samos's voice narrated. _“The rocks faced such a fire before they were the strength beneath our feet. The plants braved vast winds before their roots could give us life. As a sage of considerable years, I have known only one such great ordeal. But the hero it created was a champion... for all time.”  
_ _  
_The girls became adsorbed as the opening scene played, watching as the rift rider was activated with the rift ring. Loor smirked as Kor stuck his ugly head through, and Fury laughed when Jak decided the proper reaction would be to put the vehicle in gear.  
  
They got as far as the rough landing in Haven city when the game froze.  
  
“Eh?” Fury blinked.  
  
Loor frowned, getting up to check the system. “Must not be perfect yet... But it lasted a few moments. That's better than the tests when it wouldn't work at all.”  
  
“You think this is the device's fault?” Fury asked, grabbing her friend's shoulder. “I told you my system was glitchy.”  
  
“True, but I need to at least check.” Loor leaned forward, Fury coming with her as she didn't let go, wanting to see. Loor's first step was the flick off the switch on the back, which she did while still turning her head to look at the thing, also sliding her hand over to the power cord and yank it.  
  
Between point A and point B, her hand brushed over the vent for the fan. She'd removed the fan to fit the VC-M1 into the mechanism, and since her theory showed heat emissions would be cut down there was no need for it. As her fingers slid over, she experienced something odd.  
  
Once, several years ago, Lauren had touched an electric fence. It was a dumb thing to do, but she was still at the stage where she did nearly anything her brother told her to, and he assured her it wasn't painful at all. He was both right and wrong; where the jolt itself had not been painful the utter rudeness of the sensation was akin to pain. Now, sitting in Chelsea's room, Lauren experienced this rude sensation again.  
  
Only now it felt like someone had ramped up the fence's power by a couple hundred times. She had first looked back, gritting her teeth because her body had seized. This made the feeling continuous; buzzing away around her nerves and confusing her brain. Behind her, Fury was still holding her shoulder.  
  
The girl's mouth had opened to yelp, but the noise hadn't come out. She was clearly feeling the same thing.  
  
Loor forced her head back around, forced herself to look down against her body's will.  
  
She had to see. She had to. Something had gone terribly wrong and she had to know what.  
  
She saw her hand, her fingers passing over the vent. And... a liquid was oozing out of the vent. It was dark, and had mostly eaten through the vent as it passed through it. Some had dripped to the table, eating through that as well. Her fingers had dipped into it, dark purple sparks shooting out wherever the substance contacted solids.  
  


Lauren finally managed a short and pitiful sound of agony as her mind started to fail her. She was going under, but not before an insane thought managed to cross her brain.  
  
The dark color. The sparks. The acid-like properties.  
  
 _Eco. Electricity as a liquid is eco._


	2. Musings of Dark Eco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loor awakes in a new world...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Jak and Daxter.
> 
> Another note: For some reason this chapter has an extra space between each paragraph and I don't remember how I fixed it on the previous chapter... nothing I'm trying seems to be working. If you guys know how to fix the formatting issue, please send me a message!

**Vacation Or War**

**Chapter Two-Musings of Dark Eco**

 

 

_Where...?_

 

Nothing met this thought, which was very strange when someone considered how Lauren's brain worked. When there was one thought, there were thousands to follow. A single question usually brought on a multitude of possible answers. She was an engine of theories and ideas, so silence in her mind was unprecedented. The fact that she couldn't answer herself made her quite uneasy, trying to remember what had happened and failing. She felt like she'd had a shot of morphine to the brain, the organ too lazy to piece together anything for her query. 

 

For once, she forgot her brain and asked her body. What did her body know of her current location? At first, it was much like her brain; she was sure she had been completely numbed. Still, her question needed an answer, so she sought out her nerves. They had to be somewhere, out there, still remotely connected to her ability to sense them.

 

She felt a finger twitch in response to her demands, a wash of relief going over her. Still, that finger tugged the controlling tendons that fed back through her wrist, and though the awareness spread up half of her forearm, there was something at the wrist that disturbed her.

 

Something cold, thin, and long... it invaded, stuck in her skin and causing discomfort. 

 

A similar spasm happened at her neck when she tried to turn her head, wanting to see. She wanted to open her eyes, but she just couldn't push hard enough to get them to do so. Her muscles responded in short jerks, and as she stretched her neck she felt another invasion on her shoulder. So cold, sticking straight down into her body... 

 

Her face woke up as something brushed her forehead. It felt like... hair, but not like hair blown on a breeze. No, it reminded her of being underwater, how her hair would cover her face sometimes when she was swimming backwards. 

 

_Water...?_

 

She had to see. She had to open her eyes and see. 

 

Slowly, her lids complied with her orders, but the image she gained was blurry and distorted. She felt like she was looking through a red filter, everything various dull shades of pink. She could understand she was floating in... something. It was wet, but it was thicker than water. She felt sluggish, her eyes lazily traveling from corner to corner while trying to get her bearings. 

 

That's when she noticed a tube leading away from her face. It was clear, and as she became more aware she knew she had a mask strapped over her nose and mouth. Eyes crossing and following the strange tube up, she began to understand the frightening answer to her question.

 

Above she could make out a dark circle that the tube attached into. She stared at it, since there were eight other tubes that led back down into her strange entrapment. Those where different though; the hose attached to her face was obviously allowing her to breathe while suspended in this liquid, clear and ribbed for structure. The other eight were slightly slimmer, and black, drawing her eyes back down.

 

The numbness was finally clearing, but that didn't help the situation at all. As the feeling of rubbery unawareness left her, a jolting ache replaced it. The sensation brought back a memory...

 

_Like when the eco touched my fingers..._

 

That was the kick in the ass that her brain needed. Everything suddenly cleared as she remembered what had happened at Chelsea's house with the VC-M1, and though what she was currently faced with didn't make much more sense she _did_ have full control of her body again. She was able to look down and begin actively puzzling things out, instead of dazedly wondering what the hell was going on. 

 

She'd followed one of the black tubes down to her person, and remembered the cold intrusions she'd felt. Her eyes were focusing better now, and she was able to see that the tube connected into a metal ring that then connected to a thin metal barb that vanished under her skin. The shape bulged out of her skin and showed her that the tip was a good inch in, if not two. 

 

Needles. The black tubes led to needles. She tried to bend her head to inspect further, but she could feel that the one she'd detected on her shoulder before was one of a pair, as was the one in her inner wrist. 

 

She flexed muscles to search herself, assuming that since there were eight tubes there were eight needles. Wrists and shoulders made four, and she did find another two sets. One on the inside of her arm, where she knew IV needles to be traditionally placed, disturbing all of the muscles up to her shoulder. Next she searched downward, flexing her abdomen, bending her knees, fanning her toes--

 

That's where she found the last set. The backs of her ankles, ruining the function of her feet. She could hardly twitch her toes. 

 

 _But why?_ She queried to herself. _What **is** all this...? Where am I? And how did I get here?_

 

She then shook her head as she realized there was a more important question at the moment. 

 

_How do I get out of here?_

 

That was what she needed to know, and she looked straight forward to try and figure out her damp prison. The circle she'd seen above had to be the basis of some sort of life support system, but also made her think she might have been in some sort of tubular structure. The goo she was floating in meant she was in some kind of container; but was it a tube or a tank? Looking forward she saw the suggestion of a reflection, perhaps a foot away from her face. Glass, maybe? Either way, the way it distorted suggested a curved face; she could infer she was trapped inside a tube.

 

She'd guessed by now that the air she was breathing was laced with some sort of sedative. It smelt faintly sweet, and whenever she took a larger breath she began to feel numb once more. Her imprisonment was not meant to contain a conscious person, but a drugged one. The simple fact that she was awake gave her all the tools she needed to escape.

 

Of course, she'd also figured by now that she was dreaming. This was too fantastic to be real; a pity, she would have loved to go down in history as the kid who revolutionized energy, but the fact that it was a dream also meant she could calm the fuck down. By bending her knees she was able to get her ankles up to her hands, carefully closing her fingers over the metal fastenings that connected the needles to their tubes. 

 

She couldn't grip very tightly, nor could she bend her elbows or shoulders to pull the needles out. Instead she arched her back to push her shoulders forward and her hips back, wincing as she felt the metal intrusions sliding free. Slowly, carefully, she straightened her legs while holding on to the tubes.

 

It stung, but the needles came loose of her ankles. She had her feet back! Not that they were much use to her in the effort of getting free, but it was nice to wiggle her toes again while pondering how to get the rest of her body loose. 

 

None of them were securely anchored to her; she had been able to get her ankles free by simply slipping them out in the same direction they'd been put in. That fact gave her an idea, coupled up with her current suspension. She was bobbing as she was breathing, floating a bit when she inhaled and sinking while exhaling. It added an annoying irritation with the points on her shoulders, feeling them wiggle as she moved independently of the tubes they were leashed to. 

 

She let all the air out of her lungs, curling her body down as she began to sink. The tubes at her shoulders must have been shorter than the rest, because as she sank they began to pull free. Muscles that had tensed against the protruding metal spike were liberated, and she was able to curl even tighter till she finally felt the tips float away.

 

And not a moment too soon; her lungs were screaming for her to breathe. A grateful gulp of air later, and several smaller ones as her world turned blurry and dark again for a scary moment, she set to the remaining four that were still stuck in her skin. With her shoulders loose she was able to reach across with one arm and release the other, looking out once more as she regained her mobility.

 

It looked like the glass that contained her wasn't very thick. Still confident that this strange experience was a dream, she actually smiled to herself while putting out her newly emancipated arms. She was able to press her hands against the sides of her prison, pushing herself lower while changing position. She curled on herself again, her back facing down and her shoulders getting braced on the glass behind her.

 

She looked forward, trying to see what was outside but failing. The substance she was floating in was too cloudy, and the glass reflected back at her like a two-way mirror, giving her twisted shadows instead of a view of the outside. 

 

Extending her body, she kicked at the glass. Pain screamed up her legs, but she was rewarded with cracks. She was right, the glass was thin and not made to contain. She struck again, curious to what kind of nightmare she was having but also becoming rather frightened. She actually felt trapped...

 

And she didn't like it. It made her hit harder as the cracks expanded. She had to get out; escape into whatever world was waiting for her.

 

Her legs broke through on a final hit, and she yelped into the mask attached to her face when she felt hot pain rake up her left calf. She pulled her legs back in against the sudden suction that was produced by the goo leaking out, hissing as her skin was scraped by edges of broken glass.

 

The tube was draining, and she was soon able to stand up. She began to thrash around as her body was liberated from the liquid, throwing her shoulder against the glass to make a bigger hole. With the cage already weakened by the first hole, she broke through almost instantly, flying out and bound for the ground.

 

Her head was suddenly snapped back as she reached the end of the tube for the mask she was still breathing into, her whole body getting strung for a moment before it broke, letting her slam to the floor and hitting her head, knocking her senses loose once more.

 

“Fuck...!” She growled out of gritted teeth, her hands reaching for where she felt the thing was strapped on. There was a clip at the back of her head, under her hair, that she released, tossing the mask away and groaning. “...so not cool...” She began to look about as her bells stopped ringing, irritated by pain but still interested in finding out where she was. 

 

She found herself in a barren room with dark gray metal floor, ceiling, and walls. It was lit by alternating blue and red running lights, making the place quite dim and foreboding. There was a hallway at the end of the room that took a sharp ninety degree turn to the left before vanishing, but there was also something else of note in the room.

 

It rose up out of the floor, looking to be some sort of display. She was only a foot or two short of it, and reached out to use it as a crutch while pulling herself out of the puddle of goo and glass she'd made. Once she was properly standing she began to note the damage she'd done to herself; she was bleeding at every point where she'd pulled needles out of herself, and her legs were scratched up from the glass. Not too bad for an escape from some sort of mad-science test tube if she did say so herself. 

 

She looked down at the thing she was leaning on, and blinked. She was right; it was a display. Not only that; instead of roman characters she was faced with precursor symbols. Odd, since her dreams dealing with her obsession over Jak and Daxter were usually more humorous and zany. She knew her imagination could be quite unpredictable, but this was a bit much. Either way, she moved around to look at the display properly, setting herself to read the symbols she'd memorized only a week after playing Jak II for the first time. 

 

Coming around, she was faced with the other half of the room. She'd only glanced up to analyze the jar she'd escaped from and found that hers had been one of three. Hers had been on the left, now smashed open and drained, the needles hanging limp in the air, dripping and looking quite creepy. The other two were still full of pink goo, but there was a difference between them. There was a shadow within the middle one, clearly identifying that there was a person inside. On the right there was no such shadow, showing the tube was empty. 

 

The empty tube made the hair on the back of her neck stand up in paranoia. All the pink shit was still there, but there was no person... what had happened to them? 

 

She decided it was time to read the thing she was leaning on. There were three columns, which she could only assume corresponded with the three glass prisons. The display glowed blue with its own light, reminding her of the power station as she read. She started on the left, matching up with the tube she'd just broken out of. 

 

_**Control Information** _

 

_**SUBJECT ID: IV-DWP-13** _

 

_Gender: Female_

 

_Name: NA_

 

_Weight: 112 pounds; low body fat, healthy weight range._

 

_Height: 4 feet, 11 inches_

 

_Hair: Light_

 

_Eyes: Light_

 

_Skin: Light, no scars or major identifying features aside from small birthmarks on the left side of the neck (2, arranged along the collar bone) and under the left breast. (3, triangular arrangement)_

 

_Information of Note: Captured for unauthorized entry into the fortress; no city identification. Unconscious, taken for medical analysis. Blood tests revealed genetic anomaly, put into intravenous circulation immediately._

 

_**Update:** Subject appears to resist sedatives; genetic anomaly may account for ineffectiveness of certain chemical compounds. Current dosage is triple recommended amount._

 

Lauren had to blink, her brow furrowing as she read. She knew it was talking about her, but the fortress? She glanced around once more before reading on. 

 

_**Experiment Summary** _

 

_Overall: Subject entered extreme growth upon entering circulation, aging with continuous integration. Supplements added to life support to prevent malnutrition from hyper-metabolism; all indicators report nutritional requirements have been met thus far._

 

_**Update:** Subject's physical characteristics have begun to change after forty percent integration. Hair turning darker than expected naturally._

 

_**Update:** Subject has crossed fifty percent integration; hemoglobin appears purple instead of red. Blood samples must be taken with specially eco resistant equipment. Eye color has changed._

 

_**Update:** Hair and nails also metabolized at an unprecedented rate. Subject removed from circulation for one hour for clean-up. _

 

_**Update:** Aside from extreme growth, subject's bio systems remain unchanged. Estimated growth; subject has matured three years in the span of 14 days._

 

_**Update:** Subject has failed to yield proper results, scheduled for termination._

 

_Current blood integration level: 68 percent_

 

_Run time of experiment: 14 days, 2 hours, 6 minutes_

 

“Scheduled for termination...?” Lauren's icy calm was starting to crack. What the _hell_ was all this? Aging, physical characteristics, integration, eco?! 

 

She glanced at the ID again. IV, DWP. 

 

Intravenous, Dark Warrior Program. The fortress in the Jak II game, the Dark Warrior Program; they'd been pumping her full of eco! But she'd never seen anything like this on the game... 

 

She looked herself over for the changes described before she could start panicking. She wouldn't be able to check her eye color, but she reached for her hair to find it black, feeling a tightening frown on her face as she looked down at herself and found her body several years more mature than when she last looked at it. Her hands shook, horrified that she hadn't noticed on her own. She was taller! How did she not notice that? 

 

She tucked the damp strand of hair behind her ear, finding the next shock.

 

Her ear. She'd bumped it with her hand... and it felt a lot longer than it was supposed to. Both hands flew up to grab the offending body part, her jaw coming slightly open as she could actually _feel_ it. Like it was really hers.

 

Like it was really real.

 

“No!” She snapped at herself, shaking her head violently. “It's just a dream... just a nightmare... Keep your head on straight!” She scolded herself, looking down again. She wanted to read the rest. The center column was not unlike hers; apparently there was a girl in there with the same genetic anomaly as her, resistant to the sedative and reacting the same way with the eco by growing older. This other girl, conversely, had only been in circulation for a week instead of two.

 

Oddly enough, she wasn't scheduled for termination. Though there was no mention as to why, there was a note that the experiment was going well with her. Subject 16, as she was known on the display. 

 

Loor looked to the last column, still curious on why the tube was empty. 

 

_**SUBJECT TERMINATED.** Liquidation complete. _

 

“Just a dream.” She muttered again. She couldn't let herself get frightened by her brain making up strange fantasies. She'd had loads of Jak II related dreams; it was only a matter of time before one of them ended up dealing with dark eco. Still, as she said it to herself, she felt horribly uneasy. Even though this was a dream, the girl in the middle tube was a prisoner. It wouldn't be right to just leave her, even in a fantasy. 

 

She decided she had to release her, then escape. She was curious about what could be next in her strange flight of fancy. She was about to move beyond the display to try and figure out how to open the glass tube... when she got the feeling that she wasn't alone. 

 

“I was alerted when your vitals picked up... but I never expected you to get out.” 

 

Lauren's heart leapt up into her throat, shoulders tightening as she stared forward. Something cold was at the back of her head, and with the voice that had spoken to her, she had a guess as to what that cold spot was. 

 

“Just a dream... just a nightmare...” She muttered again. This wasn't possible. The VC-M1 could have plausibly made electricity into a liquid that resembled eco, but that was all it was meant to do. There was no extra bits, no extracurricular technology in it but the energy conversion. For her to be standing in a room, in the fortress, hearing _that_ voice, was just straight impossible. 

 

But still, no matter how she muttered, blood thumped through her temples at a frantic pace. The voice she heard, growling and cocky, was Errol's. 

 

“Want to prove that little theory?” He asked from behind her, a grin evident in his tone. “We were going to kill you today anyway. This experiment has been quite interesting, but ultimately a failure.” 

 

Loor's brain had frozen for a horrifying moment when she'd heard Errol's voice over her shoulder. Then, the next, it exploded into activity. This nightmare of hers had cast her as a test subject in the fortress, and she'd now been intercepted. The options were escape or die. Or die trying to escape. Either way, Errol was her first obstacle. 

 

“Not completely, it looks like.” She spoke while slowly putting her hands up, not that she needed to show the fact that she was unarmed. What was she going to do? Pick up a shard a glass and try to stab him? Like _that_ would work. She knew better. Still, logic dictated the only reason a Dark Warrior subject would be kept alive would be because something happened. As she read, Subject 16 wasn't on the chopping block just yet. “... did sixteen change into the monster you wanted, Errol?” 

 

Errol didn't react at first. She dared to think she surprised him. 

 

She yelped as the cold spot on the back of head moved and then struck her with blinding force. The metal barrel of the gun felt as if it had left a print on the back of her skull, whipping her around and causing her to crash into the glowing informational display. Gasping and throwing a hand up to clutch the now throbbing pain, she stared up her oppressor. 

 

His face was not what she expected. She expected the animated and cartoony proportions that Jak and Daxter characters were known for. Big eyes that were all the wrong shape, and hair that defied the laws of physics. Instead she saw a man of tan skin covered with gray tattoos, wearing a tight racing outfit overlaid with armor branded with the Baron's mark. A metal mask was on his head, slid up to push his flair of red hair back and out of his face. Long, pointed ears stuck out from his head. Brown eyes glared, but a cruel mouth smirked. He stood dangerously close, his gun jammed under her chin. 

 

This _was_ Errol, but this was no cartoon. This was a person. Lauren forgot about her dream theory and whimpered. 

 

“You know me.” He noted with only mild surprise. Something in his voice offered her continued life as long as she kept his interest. 

 

“In a sense.” She evaded, trying to figure out how her words could save her. That magnificent brain of hers twisted itself to find the answers she needed. There _had_ to be something. “... not as well as I thought.” She admitted, fear starting to take a greater precedence than thinking. 

 

His other hand seized her by the collar of the shirt she was wearing. She only briefly noted it wasn't the same as the one she'd been wearing back at Chelsea's house. Her back screamed as she was forced backwards on top of the podium. “Are you the scientist, then?” He spat out the question as she gritted her teeth against a reedy cry of pain. “Two girls appear in the middle of the night, one for me, one for the lab boys. She wakes up, she cries, she doesn't know anything... but maybe you're the one I should have interrogated that night?” He laughed, almost as if he expected her to laugh too, like it was a joke. “Was it a device? Maybe magic? Precursors only know, I'm sure. I'm also sure that if you don't know anything...” He trailed, the barrel of the gun pressing harder into her chin. 

 

The message was clear; she was dead if she pleaded ignorance. 

 

Mouth left open, undecided on whether she would break and speak or try and struggle, Loor felt something strange. All the hair on her body felt as if it was standing on end, like the air was statically charged. This feeling got her attention, and then suddenly changed. One moment she felt the static, the next she felt as if she'd been struck by lighting. Heat and sparks exploded across her senses and yanked her awareness in another direction; the tubes behind her. Her neck craned, forgetting Errol somehow to see something else that both shocked and terrified her.

 

The middle tube had suddenly shattered. Glass and goo flew everywhere, purple sparks dancing on the globes of liquid in the air and clawing across the walls. A shape stood in what was left of the middle tube, shaking and ridding itself of the various needles and face mask in several short movements. Loor could hardly see it from where she was pinned, but Errol clearly saw it and was in awe of it. Shocked, his hold on Loor loosened. 

 

Pitching forward, Loor's body acted before she knew what it was doing. Her head collided with Errol's metal breastplate, causing her more pain to her head and only making him back off a few inches. Her hands both went for his greatest advantage; his pistol. At first his fingers tightened on it, twisting to get away from her clawing hands and shoot her, but both of them soon took a tumble that knocked his shot askew and left the bullet on the ceiling.

 

A weight hit them both, coupled with an incredible roar. In a heap they went over, and Loor managed to wrench the pistol from Errol's hand as her little body then twisted to get away from whatever hit them. Whatever it was, it hadn't been aiming for her; it had been aiming for Errol. 

 

Rolling away frantically, a new feeling took in her person. As she looked up at the creature that bore both her and Errol to the floor a wave of terror washed through her, but there was more than that. This thing was human, at least somewhat, with white skin and a spray of silver hair that looked dirty while covered in the pink goo from the containment tube. The ears were worth a glance, but the black talons on it's fingers were a much bigger deal. 

 

They were aimed right for Errol's throat. 

 

Lauren's stomach tightened as the world seemed to slow down and hesitate. Something was _wrong_ about this picture; something was about to happen that simply could not be allowed to happen. Unaware of how she managed to move so suddenly, she launched herself at this creature that had just saved her life and was about to take Errol's instead. 

 

Screaming, she tackled it, the two of them rolling into a ball of limbs. It snarled, but Loor kicked it away, realizing the human form it carried was both female and young; a small teenaged girl.

 

She didn't look for long, turning and finding Errol back on his feet. She found the gun in her hands, using the barrel to arrest him in his place. His face was stupefied, unsure of how to feel about all of this but still looking as if he planned to kill her, and possibly this new creature as well. 

 

“Knock your friend away, and now you'll kill me yourself?” He asked, not seeming to have any doubt that she'd use the pistol now that she had it. He was only feet away, nearly point-blank. 

 

“Friend?” She was tempted to look but knew better. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, or he'd liberate her of the weapon she managed to steal. The creature she'd tackled was over by the wall, and as long as it didn't jump her or Errol again she couldn't spare the second to glance. 

 

“We found her with you.” He was trying to rattle her with the smirk on his face. “I assume she's your friend.” 

 

_Chelsea!!_

 

With a yell, Lauren fired three shots. Two missed, and one found home in his upper leg. Still bellowing she emptied the clip and threw the weapon across the room, not looking to see if Errol fell down after letting off a short grunt of pain. 

 

Instead she looked behind herself to where the creature would have landed after their tussle. 

 

Once a pale creature, now a still-pasty but more peach-skinned girl. Brown haired with two natural silver streaks in the front, framing her face as she laid like a ragdoll on the floor. The claws were gone, as was the feeling of electricity from the air. The same long and pointed ears adorned her head as they did everyone else's.

 

She looked just like Chelsea, plus maybe a year or two. 

 

She _was_ Chelsea. Diving to grab her, picking her up without thinking, she gave a glance to find Errol had taken a knee on the floor and was now seething up at her, gritting his teeth while putting pressure on the wound she'd just caused him. “Leaving?” He spat. “I wonder how far you two will get. I wonder...” 

 

The strangest smile took on Errol's face.

 

“A little game of cat and mouse in the streets... I think like it. Run, little mice. I'll come sniffing soon enough.” 


	3. Safe House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loor escapes the fortress to one of the underground's safe houses, leaving the question of what should be done next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Jak and Daxter

**Vacation Or War  
** **Chapter Three-Safe House**

  

Lauren was losing her mind. She knew she'd been running frantically for at least ten minutes, all through parts of the fortress that she never even knew to exist. Still, she didn't log them away, afraid that if she lingered too long Errol was sure to call back-up on her ass. She just counted herself incredibly lucky that she didn't run into any guards, because she was sure she'd be dead if she did.  
  
She already felt dead, carrying Chelsea around. Her muscles must have atrophied after floating in a tank for two weeks.  
  
 _Why are you rationalizing? It's a dream! Nightmares don't have to make sense!  
  
_ She frowned at her own thoughts, panting as she came up to a door at the end of yet another unknown hallway. The question on her brain was obvious.  
  
 _What if it's not a dream?  
  
_ “Don't bother with it...” She muttered to herself. “Don't think about that, just face forward. Treat it like it's real, and if you wake up... well, it was fun. Scary, but fun.”  
  
She then turned to the door that was ahead of her. Most of the doors she'd passed so far had been dead-ends, requiring key-codes or other authorization. This one, on the other hand, didn't have any place to input information. Just a button. She wondered if it were really that simple, or if pressing the button would trigger some kind of alarm. Both options seemed to be within her imagination's capacity and the KG's sense of humor.  
  
Her hands occupied by holding Chelsea on her back, she pressed the button with her forehead. Thankfully, instead of sounding an alarm, the door ahead began to open.  
  
Loor stuck her head out to check for guards, and though she saw none she yanked her head back, having seen something else.  
  
There was a giant fucking tank in the next room! Just idling, but it was still there.  
  
 _The security tank?_ She mused for a moment. Assuming she had once again entered familiar territory, that tank meant she was just one room away from a door that would lead her to outside the fortress and successful escape. It also gave her a relative place on the time line; Jak had escaped recently if the tank was still here. That placed her, Chelsea, and this dream pretty close to the beginning of the game's story.  
  
But why was there a door where she was? She was on the far side of the room; the wall that had always been blank and empty in the game.  
  
 _There's a door here because I needed a door. I need to escape, so here's my exit. Simple as that.  
  
_ She had to stop pondering. As she'd been thinking before, the fact that the tank was there meant she was mere yards from the door that led out to the street. Mustering what little she had left of her nerves, she turned to take a step out into the room. Her eyes locked on the security tank again; it was a massive machine clearly made for killing. The turret on top faced straight forward for now, but the cow-catcher on the front looked plenty dangerous with the giant spiked steam-roller wheel right behind it. Her natural reaction was to hide behind the corner again, to shy away, but she didn't have time for that.  
  
She and Chelsea were still in the Baron's prison, wearing what were probably the regulation outfits for female prisoners. If sighted by a guard they'd either be shot or captured, and Loor honestly preferred neither of those options. She didn't know what she'd _do_ once they got to the streets, but it felt safer than being here.  
  
She'd begun moving for the door, intent on getting outside, but the door began opening before she'd even moved a step.  
  
At once she froze like a deer in the headlights, her brain screaming _What now?!?!?!_ Did the KG use this entrance? Or was it someone else?  
  
The door opened maddeningly slow, but someone slipped in as soon as it was wide enough for a body.  
  
Those who came through it just about floored her.  
  
Jak and Daxter. In the flesh. She had to blink several times to convince she herself she wasn't seeing things, feeling her clenched jaw loosening while staring at them both. First the fact that she was seeing them, and second just how real they looked. Skin, hair, eyes, clothes, fur, all fascinating and making her want to reach out and feel the textures.  
  
Jak was looking away, to the other side of the room, where his entrance was. They were here to torch the ammo dump for Torn, and Jak was clearly focused on the mission. Of course he'd noticed the tank, but it wasn't shooting at him.  
  
Daxter, on the other hand, stared at the tank quite a bit longer than his partner. “Jeez... you'd think after how lax the security was around you, these guys wouldn't know the meaning of the word 'overkill.'” Dax said, once again making Loor want to either bolt out to them and examine both in a fangirly squee-fest, or hide behind the far side of the tank till they were gone.  
  
Instead, half-way out of the door she'd come through, she just stood and stared.  
  
“The whole place has probably tightened down since yesterday.” Jak replied, shaking his head. “Not that we've ever minded a challenge.”  
  
Daxter's eyes were still wandering about the room, and eventually he turned and saw Loor standing there like a statue.  
  
Of course he blinked, and stared. A sense of surrealism hit as Loor found herself sharing a moment of stupefied shock with an animal.  
  
“Uh... Jakkie-boy, dames in distress at three'o'clock.”  
  
“What?” Jak sounded irritated, since he clearly had his rage with the Baron on his brain. Still, his head turned.  
  
Loor felt the need to run again. She wanted to bolt, but her body and mind had totally locked up. No matter how badly she wanted to scamper off and hide, all she could do was stand and stare. Moments later he was looking, and blinking at them the same way Daxter had. “Who...? Are you two prisoners?”  
  
His voice addled her mind even more, but the fact that he asked a question let her get back in gear with the need to answer. Hesitation showed dishonesty, so she'd trained herself out of hesitating to answer anything. Now and again she blurted out something wrong, but for the most part the habit had done well for her. “Not for long. We're getting outta here.”  
  
“You won't get far in those duds.” Dax had leaned forward from Jak's shoulder now, curious about them. “The streets are crawling with guards.”  
  
Loor glanced at herself again, already aware that she and Fury were dressed differently than how they'd been when they left home. Both had been dressed in a matching set of shirt and pants that were an ugly shade of yellow with a darker shade for stripes, red type on the sleeves and pant legs. Openings had been built into the clothes for the needles that had been stuck into them, and the pants were more like long shorts, ending just above the knee. Led to examine this in detail, Loor had mainly taken the time because Jak had focused in on her. Particularly, her legs. His aqua eyes had first narrowed in confusion then widened as he took a step forward. His mouth was open like he wanted to say something, so she had looked down to see what had him up in knots.  
  
“You're bleeding...” He said, though he trailed off. Obviously something about the blood disturbed him.  
  
Properly so; the blood that had since dried and caked onto her leg was dark purple.  
  
Daxter noticed this too, but Jak spoke first. “You two need to get out of here. If the guards catch you, they'll kill you.”  
  
Dax then turned slightly to face Jak. “Think there might be a safe-house near here?”  
  
“Torn'll know.” Jak held up his hand, seeing as Loor had finally found her legs again and was tensing to bolt. “Just hold on a second, we might have someplace safe for you two to go.”  
  
She opened her mouth to insist no assistance was needed, as was yet another natural instinct of hers, but he'd already pulled some sort of communicator out of the holster on his back. She recognized it as the strange floating model of the comm. unit that appeared in the first Jak game as well as the second, but Jak apparently had to hold it when trying to get ahold of someone else.  
  
“ _What?”_ Torn's rough voice came through the little box, it beginning to float as the connection was made. _“You idiots already done?”  
  
_ “We found a couple of escapees as we were comin' in the front door.” Daxter said before Jak could explain. “The underground has safe-houses for people on the run from the Baron, right?”  
  
“ _Yeah, hang on... Actually, there's a place straight across the street. Send 'em that way, the lady of the house is used to dealing with jail-breakers.”  
  
_ “Right across from the fortress?” Jak seemed skeptic. “Why haven't they noticed her?”  
  
“ _Hiding in plain sight. Get your asses back here when you're done.”  
  
_ The comm. deactivated, and Dax caught it mid-air to put it away while Jak looked over at Loor. “Well, you heard the man.”  
  
She managed a tight nod. “We owe you one.” She answered while moving for the door, stepping quickly. It was as close as she'd get to showing gratitude with all that was bouncing about her brain right now; perhaps at a later time she'd be able to sit down and un-pack it all, but for now she had to keep moving.  
  
She didn't look back when she got to the door, quickly moving through the moment the opening was wide enough.  
  
And, for the second time that day, she nearly fell on her ass with what she saw.  
  
Haven City laid before her, in all it's squalor and glory. She stood on the ramp leading up to the fortress door, in the middle of a dingy street in the slums. Her eyes raced about cracked paving stones and houses in sore need of repair. Brief notes went to the people walking the street, all of them depressed and downcast, watching their feet and not even noticing the fact that there were a couple of girls in prison garb, standing at the entrance of the fortress.  
  
That made her frown. These people... she could feel their negative energy, just how hopeless they felt everything was. She felt like she was drowning in emo, and began to probe the passers-by with her eyes, looking for someone who wasn't interested in their toes.  
  
There were none among the walkers, but she caught someone with bright and aware eyes across the street.  
  
A woman, old and dressed simply, with gray hair pulled back from her face. Not only was she not looking at her toes, she was looking directly at Loor and Fury.  
  
The woman flashed a smile, though it was only a brief twitch of her face that showed acknowledgment before turning and opening a door to one of the dwellings on the block. As she passed into the portal, Loor could see the door had been left slightly open. The woman had to be the one managing the safe-house; Torn must have called her and let her know they were coming.  
  
 _You're rationalizing again. What good is a dream if you can't just let it be what it is?  
  
_ “I can rationalize all I damn want...” She growled to herself, stepping quickly across the street, dodging some people, and pushing the open door further ajar with her shoulder.  
  
As she did so, she noticed a tiny symbol carved into the door frame. The symbol for the underground; the Baron's symbol getting smashed with a hammer. She gave pause to study it a moment, frowning.  
  
Such things seemed a little _too_ detailed for a dream. Such fantasies had too many events to have intricate backgrounds. She wanted to touch the symbol, but her hands were occupied keeping Fury on her back.  
  
“Quickly child, before someone notices you.”  
  
She looked up, into the dwelling, to see the old woman waiting for her and motioning her inside. She obeyed with a nod, moving past the door and letting the woman close it. After that she relieved Loor of her load, taking Fury without asking, with a surprising amount of ease; she may have been old, but she was still strong. The woman held Fury bridal style, walking into the dwelling without saying a word.  
  
Loor was left to follow dazedly, looking about the old woman's home while resisting the urge to rub her eyes. The room, if it was all indeed a single room, was decorated and separated out by dozens of soft curtains, all shades of red. Loor was curious if this was decorative or functional; if this woman was a safe-house manager the curtains would give privacy to multiple visitors. Either way, the effect they had left the room feeling dreamy and without solid boundaries. The walls were covered in cloth too, giving the illusion of a giant tent.  
  
“This way. I have a shower if you want to get cleaned up... you're quite lucky, the water recently came back on in the slums.”  
  
Loor shook her head while finding the old woman deeper in the room, having chosen one of the spaces between the curtains and placing Fury on what looked like a padded mat on the floor. “That would be great... but... who are you?”  
  
The crone looked up, flashing a grandmother-like smile. “Teek. I was told you two are on the run from the Baron... did you escape the prison?”  
  
“Something like that... they weren't expecting us to wake up... though I imagine there'll be a head-hunt for us soon. I kinda shot Errol...”  
  
The smile dropped as the woman's eyes widened in shock. “Did you kill him?”  
  
“No.” Loor said it as if she were apologizing.  
  
“Pity.” Teek, as she was named, stood up while brushing off her simple skirt. “Would have made my job a lot easier.”  
  
“That being?” Loor questioned, quite curious. So far she'd run into Errol, Jak, and Daxter; all characters that she knew from the games. But this woman, Teek as it were, was a new person... and like all the others, looked real as could be. It fascinated her... and when she was fascinated she had to ask questions. She had to find out all there was to know.  
  
“Not exactly something to be discussed with guests.” Teek deflected. “How about that shower, dearie? From the looks of you, they weren't keeping you in a cell.”  
  
“Something a bit more like a test tube...” She answered with a sigh, slouching. The crap she'd been floating in had dried at the same rate the blood on her leg had, leaving her with a crusty feeling that was most unpleasant. She didn't fight as Teek pushed her towards what first looked like a barrier of curtains but turned out to be a wall; sweeping aside one of the decorative swaths to reveal a door. Said door led to a bathroom which was oddly clean, considering the city section, and most definitely with a woman's touch.  
  
Teek took only a moment to show Loor how to operate the shower and get warm water before bustling out to keep an eye on Fury.  
  
“Must be an underground agent...” Loor muttered to herself while turning the shower on, rubbing her face and leaning on the sink. It was a classic and basic bathroom; with a shower, toilet, and a sink set into a white topped counter with a mirror on the wall. The scene would have been familiar if she hadn't been horribly aware of the strangest feeling on her skin.  
  
The static. The same static she'd felt shortly before Fury... changed. The burn had long left her, but her hair was still standing up on end from an electrical feeling that would not leave her be. She wanted to rub her hands over herself to worry the feeling like one would a toothache with their tongue. Why did she feel like this? So... altered... She looked down at her hands, frowning at the fact that they were bigger than when she'd last looked. Her whole body was; aged by three years.  
  
She turned to the mirror behind her to do a more thorough examination, but the moment she faced her reflection she took a step back in shock.  
  
Lauren had been a bit short for her age back home, with dishwater blond hair and electrical blue eyes. Now she had to be four to five inches taller, and her hair was raven black. Her skin tone hadn't changed at all; still unevenly tanned with a peppering of freckles over her high cheekbones and down her forearms. Still, anything else that might have changed had to take a back seat to her eyes.  
  
Her irises had changed to a rich dark purple at the rims, fading into green around her pupil.  
  
“Just a dream...” She muttered once more. She tried feebly to convince herself of it, touching her face while staring at the mirror. “Just a... just a crazy nightmare.”  
  
She watched the mirror a moment more before turning away to strip and get in the shower.


	4. Ammo Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loor gets outfitted for action, but her sister is still disturbed by what happened while she was in the fortress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Jak and Daxter

**Vacation or War  
** **Chapter Four-Ammo Box**

 

 

The spray from the shower was warm and absolutely heavenly. It washed away the gross feeling all over Lauren's body, black hair soon hanging in wet strips about her face as she bent her head. She stood there, letting the water beat on her shoulders. Breathing in the steamy air, her mind finally settled.  
  
She forgot about where she woke up, shooting Errol, and running away from the fortress. She forgot about her fear, excitement, and anxiety. Most of all she lost the denial of all these events; for the moment they were as real as could be, and she would treat them as such.  
  
She had to.  
  
“What to do... what to do...?” She questioned to herself.  
  
 _That's obvious. Get home. Technology got you here, so the right mechanism should take you back.  
  
_ “That doesn't make any sense...” She stood up straight to drag her fingers through her hair, trying to rinse all the goop out of it. “The VC-M1 was not made to do something like this... there _has_ to be another factor. Something I'm not aware of... in that case, I need to talk to someone who knows more than I do about this stuff.”  
  
 _Vin? He was quite knowledgeable. If you explained everything to him, he might know what to do. Maybe even have a way home.  
  
_ “It's an idea... but how do I get to him? With the city check-points, just getting out of the slums will be a huge challenge...”  
  
 _Ask Teek. She might have a city pass... or, since she's an underground agent, you could get her to let you join.  
  
_ “And what? Tag along with Jak? I think not... Haven is in the middle of a violent civil war, and Jak ended up with all the dangerous parts. Trying to follow him around, even for a little while, would likely end up with me an' Fury getting killed.” She shook her head, scanning around and finding a few bottles in the shower that she confirmed to be shampoo and conditioner after reading. She stared soaping up, digging her nails into her scalp. “There has to be another way... maybe a way without a city pass...”  
  
 _There's a way to get from the pumping station to the dig site; though using the air train there to get back into the city also required a pass... and swimming was instant death in the game.  
  
_ She frowned, still scrubbing vigorously. “That's the problem... all of the information is coming from what I used to think was fictional... what's real, and what isn't? What parts were simply mechanics...?”  
  
 _Ponder them later. Vin; he's our best ticket home. How do we get to him?  
  
_ Loor stopped in her pondering, standing ram-rod straight as she noted she'd been actively talking to herself again. These weren't thoughts; this was a conversation... and she didn't like it. “How do _I._ ” She corrected herself sternly, shaking her head with sudden violence. “ _I. Me. My._ I am _not_ going insane...”  
  
 _I'm not._ She reassured herself mentally. _I remain sane because I **know** I'm talking to myself. I'm conscious of it, that it's just me, myself, and I.  
  
_ She paused, as if something was going to argue with her. A moment of silence passed, and she dipped her soapy head under the water again to rinse.  
  
“The only way out of the slums is to get a security pass.” She concluded while reaching for the other bottle in the shower, smoothing the conditioner into her hair. “Asking Teek is all I can do right now... if she asks why I need to see Vin, I'll say I'm the daughter of an old friend. Until I know exactly what I'm doing, I can't trust anyone...”  
  
 _But telling Vin everything is necessary; isn't that trusting him?  
  
_ “No... I have to do it; plus I know he's too paranoid to betray me if I tell him not to oust me to anyone.”  
  
She rinsed again after that, shutting the water off and stepping out. The mirror was now foggy, and she realized she didn't have a towel or know where one was. She considered putting the prison outfit back on, but it was still caked and stiff with the goo she'd been floating in for the past two weeks. Instead she began to search around the bathroom, eventually finding several towels folded up and stacked under the counter.  
  
She made quick work of drying herself, wrapping up and opening the door to come out.  
  
Teek was right outside the door, apparently waiting for her. The old woman had a pile of garments in her arms, and a secret little smile on her face.  
  
“I have a fresh change of clothes for you, though I guessed on size. Please, do tell me how things fit.” She said while pressing the pile into Lauren's arms, very firm while leading the girl to a curtained off corner to change. “I had a few questions, if you'd be willing to talk.” The lady went on. “Of course, I'd be willing to wait if you're not comfortable yet.”  
  
“Oh, no, it's fine.” Lauren answered, though she wasn't able to get the words out till Teek had already pushed her behind the curtain. “I had a few questions of my own, actually. But... your house, I suppose you go first, eh?”  
  
“We've got a bit of time. I've been listening to radio chatter; sounds like you and your friend have the place pretty scrambled with your escape... and Errol? You could say he's... less than happy.” Teek giggled on the other side of the curtain. “Most entertaining to listen to, but I imagine the streets will be dangerous for a while longer at least. Either way, I'd like to start with your name.”  
  
Lauren had been digging through the clothes Teek had handed to her; it was a selection of several garments, including underwear. Loor started with black panties and a sports bra, going on to look for pants. “Lauren, though friends call me Loor. My friend out there is--”  
  
“Chelsea, also known as Fury.” Teek broke in. “She woke up while you were in the shower. Quite shell-shocked; I imagine she's found her way to a bath by now. I told her to go and get clean in the other bathroom when she was able.”  
  
“There's a second bathroom?”  
  
“Men's and Women's when I have several guests. Keeps things orderly in the mornings.” Teek paused for a beat, in case Loor wanted to say something, before going on. “So, Lauren, what did our Baron have you in for?”  
  
“I...” She'd found a black set of pants and dark socks, pulling them on before continuing her skimming for a shirt. “I'm not exactly sure. I'm from outside of Haven, and let's say I was conducting some... experiments. Something went wrong, and I ended up... in there.” She paused, not sure she wanted to mention the mad science shit she'd seen when she'd come around, but deciding to say so anyway. “Woke up in some kind of tank, or tube...”  
  
“Ah... no identification then. That's a crime around here, you know. And... a tube, you say?”  
  
“Your Baron decided I made a good guinea pig.” Her voice was bitter as she lighted upon a shirt she liked; a midriff of heavy dark cloth with black leather straps crossing over each other on her chest and back, making an 'X' on either side. She spent most of her summer in just a sports bra anyway, and she liked the tight fit.  
  
There was another pause from Teek, but it was more than a considerate beat. No, she was thinking.  
  
“If you want to fight him, I could send you to someone who'd help you in that goal.”  
  
She'd just gotten the shirt over her head as she felt a short and hot flood of excitement and adrenaline. She also found a set of gloves that went with the shirt, yanking them on as well while thinking. This was exactly what she _didn't_ want to do. Throwing in with the rebels would be dangerous... but with any luck they wouldn’t have to stay long. Speed was important; the sooner she found out what was going on and how to get home, the sooner everything could be fixed.  
  
That was worth the risk.  
  
“I'd be interested...” She said carefully. “...if you're talking about the underground.”  
  
“Oh-ho, so you know about our little movement. Quite knowledgeable for an outsider.” Teek was smiling as Lauren emerged from behind the curtains, holding in arms the clothes she hadn't been interested in. “Word spread pretty quickly that Errol had been shot. You've done enough to interest us; if you've proven nothing but that you're able to think fast.”  
  
“I do what I can.” She replied, though now she was bluffing. She was confident that she could throw a punch if need be, but full blown combat sounded a tad too dangerous for her.  
  
But if she went with the underground, she'd probably be able to get into south town sooner and get to Vin.  
  
Teek took the extra clothes in one arm, offering her hand once she'd taken on the load. “Allow me a bit more transparency. I stockpile and supply weapons as well as armor and clothes to the underground. Running a safe house is one thing, but if the guard ever found out there was an underground ammo box across the street from them... my place would get torched with me in it, to say the least.”  
  
“I can't believe you can keep the place so close to the fortress without getting noticed...”  
  
“You'd be surprised on how blind the KG can be if you stand too close to them.” Teek waved her along, walking past another long barrier of curtains to get to what looked to be the other side of the room. “So, your friend, does she have any combat skills?”  
  
“She can hold her own.” Loor lied. It would be the only way to keep Fury with her. “We work together.”  
  
“Always good to have a dependable battle buddy. Now, let's see...” Teek took hold of one of the drapes on the wall, giving it a pull to reveal an actual stone wall.  
  
Said wall had a large rack of weapons hung on it. Loor had to blink at all the hardware, recognizing some of it. There was a morph gun, like the one Jak carried, along with several attachments for it, along with basic eco pistols and rounds of ammo stored next to them. There were larger class weapons, like Sig's set-form peacemaker, and other hefty looking items set on the end of staffs for shooting with one end and bludgeoning with the other.   
  
Still, Loor ignored the guns. She was a terrible shot anyway. That hit on Errol had been dumb luck at point-blank range. Instead she saw a smaller item on the rack that perked her curiosity, reaching out and picking it up off the wall. It was a dark metal pipe, about two feet long, with a rubber grip in the middle. The pipe-like thing was about the width of a pop can, if not a tad thinner, and clearly had something else in it.  
  
“What's this?”  
  
Teek smirked at her. “Squeeze the middle firmly.” She suggested.  
  
Doing as she was told, Loor nearly jumped as the item in her hand suddenly expanded. One foot sections slid out from either end of the weapon, six inch long, thin, and sharp blades extending out the tips, giving the weapon a length of five feet total.  
  
Loor grinned. “Beautiful.”  
  
“That is a verity of juice rod.” Teek explained. “If you put heavy pressure on the middle grip you'll engage a blue eco crystal, which adds a 'shocking' quality to your attacks. Just a moment here... that shirt you're wearing is made to carry just about anything on the back, I just need to hook in the right attachment.”  
  
Loor watched as Teek got something that looked like a black plastic rectangle with two circular posts on one side that looked like her weapon would hook into, and four hooks, one on each corner, that bent underneath on the other side. Without asking, Teek took her shoulder and turned her around, yanking on one of the leather strips of her shirt.  
  
Four snaps later, the thing was secure on her back, and Teek showed her that loosening her grip would cause the weapon to collapse back to its little form. Then the woman directed her to practice snapping the weapon in and out of it holster.  
  
“Do you want a smaller side-arm?” Teek asked as Loor did this.  
  
“No.” Loor answered quickly, hesitating before going on. “I... what happened with Errol was really just lucky. I'm more proficient with melee weapons.”  
  
The elder nodded. “You looked like someone who likes to handle things up close and personal. Now... some boots...” She swept the curtain back over the weapons, moving on to another section of the wall and yanking another aside. This one was closer to the floor, and revealed several pairs of combat boots that were all of similar design; Nearly up to the knee, leather with straps and metal clips, and shiny metal caps over the toe.  
  
After taking a look at Loor's feet, Teek picked out a set with a metal spike on the toe. “Try those.”  
  
“What's with all the curtains in here...? I mean, I know this is a safe house, so it divides the place up, but...” She trailed off while sitting on the floor to yank one of the boots on, tucking her pants into it before doing the straps. “It seems a bit flamboyant.”  
  
“The guard understands my home as a...” Teek paused for the proper word. “G _entleman's_ club. If I catch on the radio chatter that there's a search coming, I'll have my guests dress to fit the parts, and the curtains do well to hide anything I don't want found. Errol himself has seen my home once or twice, and is none the wiser.”  
  
“Clever.” She got up after strapping the boots up, smiling at the fit. “These are great.”  
  
Teek chuckled, nodding. “Puts a whole new danger on kicking where the shade is, hm?”  
  
“...Loor?”  
  
Both Lauren and Teek turned at a sheepish voice behind them. It would seem Fury had gotten out of her shower, clean but confused. The girl stared at her friend with wide and innocent eyes, wrapped up in two different towels; one around her body and the other over her shoulders, both clutched to her person as she looked at Loor, clearly terrified.  
  
“Loor... what's happening?”  
  
“Uh...” Lauren looked to Teek. “Could I have a moment, please?”  
  
The old woman nodded, turning and walking to one of the few actual doors in the place. “Call for me when you're done.”  
  
Both girls watched the woman leave, then looked at each other again. Fury stared before running up and hugging Loor tightly, squeezing her friend with all she had and beginning to cry.  
  
“Whoa, Fury!” Loor slowly returned the hug, clearly confused. “What's going on?”  
  
“It's... what's going on...? We were in my room and then I was in a cell... so many tests... and you... I saw you... floating in that _tube..._ And everyone... everyone has these ears... even me...!! And they... he... Me too... I was...”  
  
“He?” Loor put her hands on Fury's shoulders, pushing the girl off to look at her directly. Fury's face was made red by tears, but was also distinctly younger. Where Loor looked to be sixteen, Fury was in the fourteen to fifteen range. She'd aged, but not as much. “Fury, what are you talking about?”  
  
“I... you... you went straight in... They left me out for... six... seven days? Questions... and tests... And the commander, Errol... so scary...” She sniffed, hiccuping and shaking her head. “But... he...”  
  
Her chin fell to her chest as she choked on a sob.  
  
“Did Errol do something to you?” Lauren asked with sudden rage. Seeing Fury like this ignited what few emotions she had, making her feel like she could rip down a steel door if necessary.  
  
“No... not him... someone else, the guy who took care of me... he... was so nice... protected me from Errol... tried to get me out... and I...”  
  
Her breath shuddered as she buried her head against Loor's shoulder.  
  
“I killed him!” 


	5. Joining the Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Officially joining up with the underground and saddling up for their first mission, Loor and Fury meet Jak and Daxter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Jak and Daxter

**Vacation or War  
** **Chapter Five-Joining The Underground**

 

 

 

“You... what?”  
  
“I... I'm not sure...” Fury had calmed down some, though her face was still streaked with tears. “I... I don't know what's going on at all. I remember we were in my room, then I woke up... in this hallway. The fortress? That's what I was told, it was the fortress...”  
  
“We just escaped from there.” Loor confirmed. “The prison.”  
  
“They...” She shook her head as if to clear it, trying to breathe slowly. It was obvious her brain was still trying to panic. “Kept me in a cell... took samples, said my genetic structure was weird... and this guy, he took care of the prisoners in my area... took care of me. He was nice to me, talked to me...” She shook again, hugging herself. “Showed me... you... in that _tube..._ You were changing, getting older, like you'd started growing really fast. He told me they were using eco, Loor! Dark eco, but that doesn't make any sense...”  
  
Loor took hold of her friend, hugging her to comfort her. She had no doubt that what Fury said was true; that the poor girl had spent a week in the fortress and been subjugated to all sorts of mental damage. Beyond the confusion was imprisonment, fear, and isolation. Making her explain those things, making her mentally experience them again, would be even more damaging at the moment; best to let her lock them away.  
  
It was better to cover this ugly reality with a lie.  
  
“It's all just a dream...” Loor soothed. “A horrible nightmare. Forget about it, and we'll be home soon. I promise.”  
  
“Errol... he was always around, trying to find out where we'd come from. He... the other guy protected me, kept Errol away from me...”  
  
“Remind me to thank the guy...” Loor muttered rather dryly to herself.  
  
“He... he's dead... I... he... after they put me in one of those tubes... he had a plan to escape, he came to try and get me out too. But I wanted to save you, and he wouldn't let me try! You were right there! I was so scared, so frantic, and then... it wasn't quite blacking out, I could still see shapes, but I didn't know what was happening. Everything was fuzzy, and then...”  
  
“He was torn to pieces, wasn't he?” Loor asked quietly. “Like an animal had mauled him to death...”  
  
“How did you...?” Fury pulled back with a shock, but then nodded while looking down. “Errol and another guard was there... the told me what happened. The said I... changed... into a monster... That I... _she_ ripped him apart. I-I don't know if it was true... but they put me back in... I don't remember anything else.”  
  
She paused, since she hadn't been conscious since then.  
  
“Loor... what happened? How did we get here?”  
  
“I woke up and broke us out.”  
  
“But... that Errol guy... he watches everything; he must have come to stop you.”  
  
Loor let out a short sigh, weighing how much she should tell her friend. It was clear that she'd been exposed, rather directly, to the Baron's right hand man and his psychotic way of handling things.  
  
It was also clear that they had been made into successful subjects of the Dark Warrior Program; a mind-bending concept that Loor didn't even want to think about. She would have to, eventually, but right now she needed to take care of her friend.  
  
“I must have just missed him.” She lied, putting on an optimistic smile. “Listen, I think we might have a way to get the hell out of here... but it's not going to be easy. I need to you calm down, keep your head up, and follow my lead. We're at a safe house right now. We just escaped from the fortress, which is right across the street. There are Krimson Guards, just about everywhere, looking for us.”  
  
Fury nodded slowly. “But... Loor... the ears everyone has... they're just like that game we played. Why? Everything looks so real... but...”  
  
“I'll explain everything when we get home.” Lauren insisted. “Please, just trust me and listen.”  
  
Chelsea's jade eyes were still wide with questions, but she managed to nod.  
  
“The woman who runs this place is getting us sent to the underground; its a group of people fighting the Baron of this city. Errol is his right hand man. We're only staying long enough to get in contact with one of their information guys; Vin. He should be able to help me get us home. Till then our story is we're from outside of Haven, you're my little sister and assistant, we were experimenting with teleporter technology and accidentally ended up in the fortress and were arrested for not having identification.”  
  
“Uh.... Little sister, arrested for no ID. Kinda got it...”  
  
“Good enough.” Lauren ruffled Fury's hair, giving her one more hug. “The lady of the house is going to suit you up with some weapons. You're a pretty good shot, so go for the guns. Remember target practice at my house, off the back deck? You were great at that. If things get hairy, you're going to need something you can handle.”  
  
“...Hairy?”  
  
“It's a war out there.” Loor gave her sister a pat on the back. “Try not to worry about it. I'll take care of you.”  
  
She walked over to the door Teek had disappeared into, looking back at her friend out the corner of her eye.  
  
 _I promise, Fury. I made this mess... I'll fix everything, and it'll be like nothing but a bad dream._  
  
She then faced forward again, having been about to knock, when the door flew open.  
  
“Um... just about to get you, there.” Loor mumbled, shocked at the woman's sudden appearance. She had flung the door open and shut it behind herself just as quickly, bustling over to Fury and taking the girl by the shoulders.  
  
“You two need to move quickly. They're searching all buildings in the immediate vicinity of the fortress. It will take them an hour or so to get to me, but they will come. I'd suggest you two separate, for the moment at least. Divide and conquer, as it were.”  
  
“What?” Fury asked with a measure of discomfort in her voice. “But we're sisters! We need to stay together!”  
  
“Be that as it may, they're looking for a pair of girls. Just one girl will fall under less suspicion.” Teek had pushed Fury behind a set of curtains, fetching clothes from another corner for her to try on while looking over to Loor. “You should get moving. I'll send her along when she's ready. There's a dead-end alley way near the north wall; the stone wall with the painted green and black symbol on it moves. Torn will bring you into the fight.”  
  
“Loor!” Fury protested from behind the curtain.  
  
“Take it easy.” Lauren finally answered, having been thinking. “We got to keep our heads on straight if we even have a chance at making it around here. I'll go now, and we'll meet up later. Just keep to yourself and don't step on anyone's toes.”  
  
“I...” Fury paused as Teek tossed in the pile of clothes. “Oh... alright... fine.”  
  
“Before you leave...” Teek turned and retrieved something else from yet another sectioned off area. When she returned she had a length of bright red cloth in her hand, giving it to Loor with reverence. “Everyone, be they on the Baron's side or ours, wears one of these somewhere on their body.”  
  
Lauren took the silky cloth carefully, staring a moment before nodding and using it to push her hair back, tying it off and letting the tail hang behind her back. “Thank you.”  
  
“Do us proud in the underground, and I will be thanking you.” Teek gave her a push. “Go, quickly child.”  
  
She nodded, looking around and realizing she had no idea where the hell the door was. All the shades of red blended into each other, making the room seem endless. Teek seemed to sense her confusion, because she bustled forward to sweep a few curtains out of the way and reveal the front door.  
  
“Don't worry about it...” Teek giggled to herself. “I too get lost in the colors, now and again.”  
  
Loor advanced to the door with yet another bob of her head, letting herself outside and stepping onto the street. She didn't hesitate for long, seeing the group of KG at the end of the lane. The group conducting the search, no doubt. Taking her own advice, she put her head down and started walking.

* * *

 

“The demolition duo has returned! One BBQ-ed ammo dump, served up hot!” Daxter crowed as he jumped onto the table in the underground. Jak smirked at this remark; it seemed Daxter never got the gravity of what they were doing till the monsters were breathing down their necks. Still, his constant jokes, wisecracks, and random behavior kept the both of them sane. If Dax hadn't been around, life would have been a lot less fun.  
  
Regardless to that, Jak could tell that Torn was rolling his eyes, and decided to add his own two cents. “We saw something odd while torching that ammo.” He said, frowning at the tattooed wonder. Would it kill the guy to laugh once in a while? “The Baron's guards were giving barrels of eco to a group of metal heads.”  
  
King Laryngitis turned his head at that comment, his eyes showing clear surprise. “Really?” He asked. “The Shadow will be very interested to hear that.”  
  
Jak opened his mouth, mention of the Shadow reminding him why they were playing errand boys for Torn. They weren't here to blow up ammo dumps or climb towers; they wanted to meet the Shadow and learn how to get a few direct hits on the Baron. The rest of what the underground did was their business, but he cared about his revenge.  
  
Still, like Daxter never got the true weight of any situation, he often lost sight of the end objective. The fuzz-ball broke in to boast. “You know, so far _your_ gigs have been easier than stealing grass from a sleeping yakkow.”  
  
Jak glared at his partner. Great, they'd just volunteered for some other side-tracking task. He crossed his arms over his chest as Torn gained an amused expression.  
  
“So, you and the rat wanna start proving yourselves, huh?” He asked, about to go on...  
  
When the door to the street opened. Everyone looked, listening to a solitary set of steps coming down the stairs.  
  
A girl entered in; one that Jak recognized. It was one of the two he and Dax had seen at the fortress; the one who'd been up and walking. It made him briefly worry about the girl's friend, since the worst often happened to the Baron's 'science projects.'  
  
And with the fact that this girl had been bleeding purple he could only assume they were experiments, like himself. She looked a lot better than when he'd seen her last; cleaned up and dressed properly, black hair pushed back by a red scarf tied around her head.  
  
The girl was looking about herself like a kid in a candy shop, her eyes wide and curious, hands brushing along the walls as she came down from the stairs. She then looked up into the room, noting everyone's gaze. From there her eyes only grew more curious, a smile picking up at the corner of her mouth.  
  
“Took your time getting over here.” Torn growled. “Get your ass down here, newbie.”  
  
She didn't have to be told twice, practically trotting down to the table everyone was gathered around. “Any word on my sister?” She asked casually, looking like she was on top of things.  
  
Jak had to blink at her. For someone coming out of the fortress, she was strangely bouncy. And calm. He'd been out of his mind with rage when he escaped; only enough sensible neurons left to remind him that taking on Praxis immediately would be a very bad and likely deadly idea.  
  
“Teek sent her along. She should be here soon, and you both have some proving to do.”  
  
“Well, go on. I can explain shit when she gets here.” The girl waved a hand, which made Torn glower at her. He apparently didn't like it when girls ordered him around.  
  
Still, he didn't waste time arguing with her. “One of the underground's... 'suppliers' needs his payment delivered, a bag of eco ore. Take the zoomer parked out back and drive it down to the Hip Hog Saloon in south town. Jak, when you get there you can pump Krew for information. He's wired to the city and might know what the Baron is up to.” He looked over at the girl, now smirking. “The KG is probably going to get suspicious. Make sure that shipment doesn't get hurt; it's worth more than you are.”  
  
The girl glared, looking like she was tempted to pout. “It's nice to be loved.” She batted back sarcastically while turning to lead the way out. Jak glanced back, waiting for Dax to jump up again before taking his own leave.  
  
Going up the stairs to the street, he saw the girl standing there. A change had occurred in her attitude. She seemed at a loss for what to do; one moment she'd been completely on top of things, and now she glanced about like she'd dropped something incredibly important.  
  
Had she been _acting_ tough?  
  
“Hey, sweet cheeks!” Dax called out. “You said you owed us one, I didn't figure you'd be back to return the favor so soon.”  
  
She turned to face them, bewilderment showing on her face after being pulled from her own thoughts. “Oh...? Oh, yeah, I didn't think so either. Just a means to an end for me, though...”  
  
“Oh, us too.” Dax turned to face the girl as Jak went over to the parked zoomer Torn had mentioned, checking the package that was strapped onto the tail end. “So, you got a name to go with that sweet face of yours?”  
  
Jak rolled his eyes; did Dax have to put the moves on every living creature that happened to have breasts? What was worse is that those lines sometimes worked for him. He had to look, just to see if this girl was one of the stupid ones.  
  
Oddly, she looked like she didn't know how to react. She wasn't flattered, but she wasn't irritated either. Lest, not to begin with. After a few moments of indecision she crossed her arms over her chest, looking uncomfortable. “Lauren... though only my family calls me that anymore. Most people call me Loor.”  
  
“What got you into the underground?” Jak asked before Daxter could overstep the line she'd drawn. Dax had never been any good at noting body language. “Torn had us do at least one useless task before letting us on board.”  
  
“I...” She paused, then shrugged. “I shot Errol on my way out of the fortress.”  
  
“Whoa!” Dax exclaimed. “Way t'go!”  
  
“Really?” Jak asked, “Did you kill him?”  
  
She gave him a near lethal look. “No, sadly. I was just trying to put him out for the count while my sister and I escaped.”  
  
“Jeez, sorry... just asking...”  
  
“Loor hates it when people ask lots of questions.”  
  
Jak, Daxter, and Lauren all turned as another new girl walked up. She was younger than Loor, with mousy brown hair and silver bangs. She had a soft and innocent face with big jade eyes, dressed in a red tank with a black jacket over it and matching pants. She wore boots, and had twin pistols strapped onto her hips. She had a red scarf, just like everyone else involved in the war, looped about her neck with the tail left to hang behind.  
  
“You must be her sister, right?” Dax quested, looking rather happy that he had all the eye-candy in the world for this mission.  
  
“Chelsea.” Loor introduced, welcoming her sister to her side. “Though I call her Fury. Now that we're all here, let's get going.”  
  
“Going?” Fury frowned up at her sister. “But I just got here!”  
  
“We got a mission, _Imoto-chan.”_ Loor snickered. “Let's go find some zoomers to follow the boys with, and we'll get moving.” She took her sister by the shoulders to steer her back out of the alley-way. “We'll be right back.” She assured.  
  
Dax watched the ladies leave the alley with a smile on his fuzzy face. “ _Mmmm...!_ Ladies in the service are an acquired taste, if you can handle the rough edges.”  
  
“If you had kept talking one of them was going to handle _you.”_ Jak chuckled while saddling up. “How the hell did you manage not to get yourself skinned without me?”  
  
“You underestimate my animal magnetism, obviously.” Dax smoothed back his ears, grinning. “One look at this adorable mug, and the ladies can't help but fall at my feet.”  
  
“Right... and the fact that neither of the new girls asked for your name...?”  
  
Daxter seemed to experience a short twitch as he realized that fact. “Well... they weren't asking for _yours_ , either!” 


End file.
